Nominations please?

I recently accepted a position as an instructor at a local career center where I teach firefighting & EMS to high school juniors & seniors. I would like to ask the readers of this forum for some assistance.

One of the units I will be teaching this year is on the history of the fire service. I intend to assign the students to do research on people who have been influential in the fire service over the years, and then give a presentation on their research to the rest of the class.

Can any of you please suggest some names of historically influential fire service people that I might use to fuel this project?

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"The most mediocre man or woman can suddenly seem dynamic, forceful, and decisive if he or she is mean enough." from "Crazy Bosses"
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Genius has its limits, but stupidity is boundless.

EDIT: This next one's already mentioned, but catch posted while I was looking this stuff up... so for the sake of already wasting my time, I'll keep this. Some interesting stuff to point out off the page... there's tons more there... but just to point out the big stuff...
-Hans Harsh improved the manual pump creating the first suction and force pump and adding some flexible hoses to the pump.
-In 1672, Dutch inventor Jan Van Der Hayden invented the firehose. Constructed of flexible leather and coupled every 50 feet with brass fittings, the length and connections remain the standard to this day.
-The fire engine was further developed by Richard New sham of London in 1725. Pulled as a cart to the fire, these manual pumps were manned by teams of men and could deliver up to 160 gallons per minute at up to 120 feet.
-In, 1631 Boston's governor John Winthrop outlawed wooden chimneys and thatched roofs.
-In 1736 Benjamin Franklin established the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia.
-Molly Williams- First known female FF
-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_fire_brigades

-Soon... once his invention hits the market... I believe this one will be true...
Greg Chavez, winner of this past season's American Inventor, invented "Guardian Angel", a Christmas tree fire suppression system disguised as a Christmas gift/tree ornament.
-- http://www.cpf.org/default/whats_new...tor1/index.cfm

More nominees...

Dr. William Channing and Moses Farmer, who, in Boston, Massachusetts in the year 1852 developed the first, practical fire alarm system using the telegraph system to pinpoint the location of and communicate a fire alarm.

John Nelson Gamewell, who purchased the total rights to Channing and Farmer's system in 1859 and founded the Gamewell Fire Alarm Company.

Henry S. Parmelee of New Haven, Connecticut who, on August 11, 1874, obtained U.S. patent No. 154,076 for a his invention called the sprinkler head.

‎"The education of a firefighter and the continued education of a firefighter is what makes "real" firefighters. Continuous skill development is the core of progressive firefighting. We learn by doing and doing it again and again, both on the training ground and the fireground."
Lt. Ray McCormack, FDNY

Ben Franklin - for one of our nations' first "organized" firefighting efforts

x2. One of the creators of Union Fire Co., in 1736.

Looking at a picture of ol Ben in his leather, makes you think how far we have come, with bunker gear, and SCBA, and motorized apparatus, then look at your lid, if you wear a leather. Almost unchanged in 275+ years. Wow.

I have no ambition in this world but one, and that is to be a fireman. The position may, in the eyes of some, appear to be a lowly one; but we who know the work which the fireman has to do believe that his is a noble calling. Our proudest moment is to save lives. ~Edward F. Croker

Through all of this no one has mentioned Captain Clifford Reed of the reed hoods or Cheif Alan V Brunacini of Phoenix for his IC systems.

I agree Capt. Reed is like a God in the industry down here. Captain Reed was an extremely aggressive firefighter and changed the way we fight fire here in Houston.

John Salka is another recent name. Salka is a retired FDNY chief that has done alot for firefighting. I took a couple of his classes when he came to Houston and have read his book that guy is definately one that I look up to.

Reed hoods ain't all that big most places. You guys swear by em, but they just aren't my cup of tea I guess. I can almost guarantee that 99% of firefighters do not have any idea what a reed hood is. I know that maybe 2 firefighters and one other explorer besides myself on my dept. know what a reed hood is, and that is because we all are members of these forums.

Reed hoods ain't all that big most places. You guys swear by em, but they just aren't my cup of tea I guess. I can almost guarantee that 99% of firefighters do not have any idea what a reed hood is. I know that maybe 2 firefighters and one other explorer besides myself on my dept. know what a reed hood is, and that is because we all are members of these forums.

I'm a southern guy, and you have totally lost me: what does this have to do with the discussion at hand?

I'm a southern guy, and you have totally lost me: what does this have to do with the discussion at hand?

I'm sorry I guess that I should have specified. Mostly its texas and surrounding area who tout the reed hood as the greatest thing since sliced bread. I was merely letting the reed hood poster know that most firefighters across this country have no idea what a reed hood is and it has not affected firefighting in this country as a whole as it has in that area. Sure if you are looking for just random inventors, he would be a good person to research, but if you are looking for inventions that really changed the fire service as a whole or FF safety, etc, etc. I personally would not include him in my list. But hey, that's just my opinion.

Another person who I jsut remembered would be Harvey Grant. He was a pioneer in vehicle extrication and wrote many books and articles on the subject and developed many techniques. He also taught classes up and down the east coast. (not sure about anywhere else)